Archive for the 'Low Carb' Category

Here is a tip from a former marine who gained too much weight after leaving the Marine Corps.

You don't have to dedicate yourself to any diet plan or low-carb regimen to lose weight. Just substitute what you might eat in carbs with fat instead, bacon vs donuts, cheese vs cereal, or a sandwich with mayo without the bread.  Doing this will have much less impact on insulin levels, where upswings cause weight gain.

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When I was a kid I used to watch in awe as my Dad chowed down on a sandwich he made with liverwurst or other deli items  (usually a Dagwood size, if you recall what that was and if you are too young to know about a Dagwood sandwich, well, just think huge). He would rub his hands together in anticipation, open his mouth as wide as he could, and take these monster bites, rolling his eyes and moaning with pleasure. He didn't restrict his great white shark bites to just sandwiches either, just about anything he consumed was done in a manner that suggested it might be his last meal.

Of course, later on when my mouth could handle it I too started eating like my Dad, hogging it down in a way that I convinced myself had me enjoying food more. I didn't just pick up this eating style during my stint in the Marine Corps, although back then I ate fast because I either had to or was in a hurry to get somewhere. The marines have a saying about chow time;  "take all you want, but eat all you take".

Unfortunately, as a result of his bad eating habits,  Dad became extremely overweight, developed diabetes and died at the tender age of 62 from complications of a gastric bypass operation.

After I joined the marines I had to learn how to eat all over again. In USMC boot camp I was always hungry, not because they starved me (just the opposite) but because I was expending so many calories in training I needed the nourishment. And the food was darn good too! Since leaving the marines I have had to watch what I eat and was not always successful, I gained weight and before I knew it had gained more weight than I thought possible. Before I discovered the low-carb lifestyle I was headed toward repeating my Dad's mistakes and fortunately I woke up in time to reverse that trend.

As a low-carb aficionado my sandwiches (I call them roll-ups) now consist of ingredients such as ham, turkey, roast beef, tuna salad, cheese and lettuce, minus the bread and I don't really miss it. I may never be able to give up bread completely but the carbs I have resisted not eating bread with a sandwich allow me to eat other carbs I enjoy, especially pasta (low-carb) and fruit.

What brought all this up was  coming across an article in Men's Health titled Chew on This which brought back memories of Dad's eating habits because the article is about what Dutch researchers discovered;  that big bites (and fast chewing) can lead to overeating. I didn't know about this and was surprised to read that people who chewed large bites of food for 3 seconds consumed 52 percent more food before feeling full than those who chewed smaller bites for 9 seconds. Their findings suggest that tasting food for a longer period of time (no matter how much you bite off) signals your brain to make you feel full sooner.

I wish these Dutch scientists had discovered this in time to help my Dad, he might have lived longer had he been able to change his eating habits by taking smaller bites and chewing longer. If you find yourself doing the same thing, taking big bites and gulping, remind yourself to slow down, try taking smaller bites and see what happens. You might be surprised at what you discover.

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Saturated fat will have much less impact on insulin levels than whole grains (bread), cereal fiber or fruit and vegetables (which can heighten the risk of type 2 diabetes). Even if you don't follow Atkins or The South Beach Diet you may already have known that. We also know that even the good carbs found in fruits and vegetables are still carbs so we have to count them too.

Low-Carb regimens that follow similar paths to those of the Atkins and South Beach Diets can be diets that include animal fat and  protein. Or they can be vegetable and fruit inclusive. The problem is that even though it's a "very good thing to do," most people don't know how to eat well. They don't bother to learn the differences between simple and complex carbohydrates and what's involved in maintaining a healthy and balanced diet. People go to extremes," said Dr. Stuart Weiss, a clinical assistant professor of medicine at New York University School of Medicine in New York City. "In general, carbs should be limited just like saturated fat needs to be limited. . . If you eat too much of anything, you're bound to get into trouble."

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Saturated fat will have much less impact on insulin levels than whole grains (bread), cereal fiber or fruit and vegetables (which can heighten the risk of type 2 diabetes). Even if you don't follow Atkins or The South Beach Diet you may already have suspected as much or experienced an increase in blood sugar from eating them.

Low-Carb regimens that follow similar paths to those of the Atkins and South Beach Diets can be diets that include animal fat and  protein. Or they can be vegetable and fruit inclusive. The problem is that most people don't know how to eat well and do what it takes to maintain a healthy and balanced diet.

People tend to go to extremes, carbs should be limited just like fats. If you eat too much of anything, you're headed for a fall.

American Diabetes Association  

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The good news about Type 2 diabetes, which affects as many as 45 percent of women and 30 percent of men in the United States, is 75 percent preventable with the proper diet. (The other 25 percent is hereditary). And, while low-fat, high-carb diets are often recommended by doctors who treat diabetes, my feeling is that we have to minimize our carb consumption, especially the bad carbs found in processed foods (empty, useless calories) and continue to promote the "good" carbs found in fruits and vegetables. You just have to find that fine line between weight stabilization and weight gain, your carb "threshold".

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